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http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm

The chemical composition of seawater

.

By Dr J Floor Anthoni (2000, 2006)

www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm
(best viewed in a window as wide as a page. Open links in a new tab.)
In order to understand the sea, some of its chemical properties are important. This page details the
chemical composition of sea water, salinity, density, its dissolved gases, carbon dioxide and pH as
limiting factor. Chemical elements in sea water do not exist on their own but are attracted to
preferential ions of opposite charge: sulphur will occur mainly as sulphate, sodium as sodium
chloride, and so on.

Detailed composition: abundance of the elements in seawater

Salinity: the main salt ions making the sea salty
Density: the density of sea water depends on temperature and salinity
Dissolved gases: the two important gases to life, oxygen and carbondioxide. Limiting hydrogen ions
and ocean pH.
Bicarbonate: the life of dissolved carbon dioxide in the sea.
Related chapters:

global climate: learn about global climate step by step, from a very wide perspective.
Is global warming real or fraudulent? (140p) Must-read!
acid oceans: are oceans becoming more acidic? How does it work? Threat or fraud?
(60p) Must-read!
abundance of the elements of life in the universe, earth, sea and organisms.
table of units & measures: units, measures, conversion constants, world dimensions,
and much more.
periodic table: the periodic table of elements, complete with elementary chemistry
and interesting facts.
soil/ecology: the main biomes of the land and their carbon sinks. How does soil
work? Sustainability? What to do against erosion? (large)
the Dark Decay Assay : new discoveries of the plankton ecosystem. pH as most
important limiting factor.

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-- Seafriends home -- oceanography -- sitemap -- Rev 20000714,20060825,20070515,20070718,20100608,

Detailed composition of seawater

at 3.5% salinity
Element
Hydrogen H2O
Oxygen H2O
Sodium NaCl
Chlorine NaCl
Magnesium Mg
Sulfur S
Potassium K
Calcium Ca
Bromine Br

At.weight
1.00797
15.9994
22.9898
35.453
24.312
32.064
39.102
40.08
79.909

ppm
110,000
883,000
10,800
19,400
1,290
904
392
411
67.3

Element
Molybdenum Mo
Ruthenium Ru
Rhodium Rh
Palladium Pd
Argentum (silver) Ag
Cadmium Cd
Indium In
Stannum (tin) Sn
Antimony Sb

At.weight
0.09594
101.07
102.905
106.4
107.870
112.4
114.82
118.69
121.75

ppm
0.01
0.0000007
.
.
0.00028
0.00011
.
0.00081
0.00033

Helium He
Lithium Li
Beryllium Be
Boron B
Carbon C
Nitrogen ion
Fluorine F
Neon Ne
Aluminium Al
Silicon Si
Phosphorus P
Argon Ar
Scandium Sc
Titanium Ti
Vanadium V
Chromium Cr
Manganese Mn
Ferrum (Iron) Fe
Cobalt Co
Nickel Ni

4.0026
6.939
9.0133
10.811
12.011
14.007
18.998
20.183
26.982
28.086
30.974
39.948
44.956
47.90
50.942
51.996
54.938
55.847
58.933
58.71

0.0000072
0.170
0.0000006
4.450
28.0
15.5
13
0.00012
0.001
2.9
0.088
0.450
<0.000004
0.001
0.0019
0.0002
0.0004
0.0034
0.00039
0.0066

Tellurium Te
Iodine I
Xenon Xe
Cesium Cs
Barium Ba
Lanthanum La
Cerium Ce
Praesodymium Pr
Neodymium Nd
Samarium Sm
Europium Eu
Gadolinium Gd
Terbium Tb
Dysprosium Dy
Holmium Ho
Erbium Er
Thulium Tm
Ytterbium Yb
Lutetium Lu
Hafnium Hf

127.6
166.904
131.30
132.905
137.34
138.91
140.12
140.907
144.24
150.35
151.96
157.25
158.924
162.50
164.930
167.26
168.934
173.04
174.97
178.49

.
0.064
0.000047
0.0003
0.021
0.0000029
0.0000012
0.00000064
0.0000028
0.00000045
0.0000013
0.0000007
0.00000014
0.00000091
0.00000022
0.00000087
0.00000017
0.00000082
0.00000015
<0.000008

Copper Cu
Zinc Zn
Gallium Ga
Germanium Ge
Arsenic As
Selenium Se
Krypton Kr
Rubidium Rb
Strontium Sr
Yttrium Y
Zirconium Zr
Niobium Nb

63.54
65.37
69.72
72.59
74.922
78.96
83.80
85.47
87.62
88.905
91.22
92.906

0.0009
0.005
0.00003
0.00006
0.0026
0.0009
0.00021
0.120
8.1
0.000013
0.000026
0.000015

Tantalum Ta
Tungsten W
Rhenium Re
Osmium Os
Iridium Ir
Platinum Pt
Aurum (gold) Au
Mercury Hg
Thallium Tl
Lead Pb
Bismuth Bi
Thorium Th
Uranium U
Plutonimu Pu

180.948
183.85
186.2
190.2
192.2
195.09
196.967
200.59
204.37
207.19
208.980
232.04
238.03
(244)

<0.0000025
<0.000001
0.0000084
.
.
.
0.000011
0.00015
.
0.00003
0.00002
0.0000004
0.0033
.

Note! ppm= parts per million = mg/litre = 0.001g/kg.

source: Karl K Turekian: Oceans. 1968. Prentice-Hall

Salinity and the main salt ions

The salinity of sea water (usually 3.5%) is made up by all the dissolved salts shown in the above table.
Interestingly, their proportions are always the same, which can be understood if salinity differences are caused by
either evaporating fresh water or adding fresh water from rivers. Freezing and thawing also matter.
Salinity affects marine organisms because the process of osmosis transports water towards a higher concentration
through cell walls. A fish with a cellular salinity of 1.8% will swell in fresh water and dehydrate in salt water. So,
saltwater fish drink water copiously while excreting excess salts through their gills. Freshwater fish do the opposite by
not drinking but excreting copious amounts of urine while losing little of their body salts.
Marine plants (seaweeds) and many lower organisms have no mechanism to control osmosis, which makes them
very sensitive to the salinity of the water in which they live.
The main nutrients for plant growth are nitrogen (N as in nitrate NO3 -, nitrite NO2 -, ammonia NH4 +), phosporus (P as
phosphate PO43-) and potassium (K) followed by Sulfur (S), Magnesium (Mg) and Calcium (Ca). Iron (Fe) is an
essential component of enzymes and is copiously available in soil, but not in sea water (0.0034ppm). This makes iron
an essential nutrient for plankton growth. Plankton organisms (like diatoms) that make shells of silicon compounds
furthermore need dissolved silicon salts (SiO2) which at 3ppm can be rather limiting.
The main salt ions that make up 99.9% are the following:

chemical ion

valence

concentration
ppm, mg/kg

part of
salinity %

molecular
weight

mmol/
kg

Chloride Cl

-1

19345

55.03

35.453

546

Sodium Na

+1

10752

30.59

22.990

468

Sulfate SO4

-2

2701

7.68

96.062

28.1

Magnesium Mg

+2

1295

3.68

24.305

53.3

Calcium Ca

+2

416

1.18

40.078

10.4

Potassium K

+1

390

1.11

39.098

9.97

Bicarbonate HCO3

-1

145

0.41

61.016

2.34

Bromide Br

-1

66

0.19

79.904

0.83

Borate BO3

-3

27

0.08

58.808

0.46

Strontium Sr

+2

13

0.04

87.620

0.091

Fluoride F

-1

0.003

18.998

0.068

By adding the mol in last column up, multiplied by respective valences, like: -546 +468 -56.2 +106.6 + .... one ends
up with almost 0, suggesting that the above values are about right. During the Challenger Expedition of the 1870s, it
was discovered that the ratios between elements is nearly constant although salinity (the amount of H2O) may vary.
Note that the figures above differ slightly in differing publications. Also landlocked seas like the Black Sea and the
Baltic Sea, have differing concentrations.

This world map shows how the salinity of the

oceans changes slightly from around 32ppt
(3.2%) to 40ppt (4.0%). Low salinity is found in
cold seas, particularly during the summer
season when ice melts. High salinity is found
in the ocean 'deserts' in a band coinciding with
the continental deserts. Due to cool dry air
descending and warming up, these desert
zones have very little rainfall, and high
evaporation. The Red Sea located in the
desert region but almost completely closed,
shows the highest salinity of all (40ppt) but the
Mediterranean Sea follows as a close second
(38ppt). Lowest salinity is found in the upper
reaches of the Baltic Sea (0.5%). The Dead
Sea is 24% saline, containing mainly
magnesium chloride MgCl2. Shallow coastal
areas are 2.6-3.0% saline and estuaries 0-3%.

Making sea salt

Sea salt is made by evaporating sea water, but this is not straight-forward. Between 100% and 50% first the
calcium carbonate (CaCO3= limestone) precipitates out, which is chalk and not desirable. Between 50% and 20%,
gypsum precipitates out (CaSO4.2H2O), which also tastes like chalk. Between 20% and 1% sea salt precipitates
(NaCl) but going further, the bitter potassium and magnesium chlorides and sulfates precipitate, which is to be
avoided, unless for health reasons. In commercial salt production, the water is led through various evaporation
ponds, to achieve the desired result.
Note that this process has also happened where large lakes dried out, laying down the above salts in the above
sequence. Note that normal sea water is undersaturated with respect to all its salts, except for calcium carbonate
which may occur in saturated or near-saturated state in surface waters.
An artificial salt solution of 3.5% (35ppt) is made by weighing 35g of salt in a beaker and topping it up with fresh
water to 1000g.

Density
The density of fresh water is 1.00 (gram/ml or kg/litre) but added salts can increase this. The saltier the water, the
higher its density. When water warms, it expands and becomes less dense. The colder the water, the denser it
becomes. So it is possible that warm salty water remains on top of cold, less salty water. The density of 35ppt
saline seawater at 15C is about 1.0255, or s (sigma)= 25.5. Another word for density is specific gravity.

The relationship between temperature, salinity

and density is shown by the blue isopycnal (of
same density) curves in this diagram. In red,
green and blue the waters of the major oceans
of the planet is shown for depths below -200
metre. The Pacific has most of the lightest
water with densities below 26.0, whereas the
Atlantic has most of the densest water
between 27.5 and 28.0. Antarctic bottom water
is indeed densest for Pacific and Indian
oceans but not for the Atlantic which has a lot
of similarly dense water.

Dissolved gases in seawater

The gases dissolved in sea water are in constant equilibrium with the atmosphere but their relative concentrations
depend on each gas' solubility, which depends also on salinity and temperature. As salinity increases, the amount
of gas dissolved decreases because more water molecules are immobilised by the salt ion. As water temperature
increases, the increased mobility of gas molecules makes them escape from the water, thereby reducing the
amount of gas dissolved.
Inert gases like nitrogen and argon do not take part in the processes of life and are thus not affected by plant and
animal life. But non-conservative gases like oxygen and carbondioxide are influenced by sea life. Plants reduce the
concentration of carbondioxide in the presence of sunlight, whereas animals do the opposite in either light or
darkness.

gas
molecule

% in
atmosphere

% in surface
seawater

ml/litre
sea water

mg/kg (ppm)
in sea water

molecular
weight

mmol/
kg

Nitrogen N2

78%

47.5%

10

12.5

28.014

0.446

Oxygen O2

21%

36.0%

31.998

0.219

Carbondioxide CO2

0.03%

15.1%

40

90 *

42.009

2.142

Argon

1%

1.4%

0.4

39.948

0.01

One kg of fresh water contains 55.6 mol H2O

* also reported as 80 mg/kg
Please note that these figures may be incorrect as too many different values have been published
In the above table, the conservative gases nitrogen and argon do not contribute to life processes, even though
nitrogen gas can be converted by some bacteria into fertilising nitrogen compounds (NO3, NH4). Surprisingly the
world under water is very much different from that above in the availability of the most important gases for life: oxygen
and carbondioxide. Whereas in air about one in five molecules is oxygen, in sea water this is only about 4 in every
thousand million water molecules. Whereas air contains about one carbondioxide molecule in 3000 air molecules, in
sea water this ratio becomes 4 in every 100 million water molecules, which makes carbondioxide much more
common (available) in sea water than oxygen. Note that even though their concentrations in solution differ due to
differences in solubility (ability to dissolve), their partial pressures remain as in air, according to Henry's law, except
where life changes this. Plants increase oxygen content while decreasing carbondioxide and animals do the reverse.
Bacteria are even capable of using up all oxygen.
All gases are less soluble as temperature increases, particularly nitrogen, oxygen and carbondioxide which become
about 40-50% less soluble with an increase of 25C. When water is warmed, it becomes more saturated, eventually
resulting in bubbles leaving the liquid. Fish like sunbathing or resting near the warm surface or in warm water outfalls
because oxygen levels there are higher. The elevated temperature also enhances their metabolism, resulting in faster
growth, and perhaps a sense of wellbeing.
Likewise if the whole ocean were to warm up, the equilibrium with the atmosphere would change towards more
carbondioxide (and oxygen) being released to the atmosphere, thereby exacerbating global warming.
Since the volume of all oceans is 1.35E21 kg (see table of units & measures) and CO2 concentration is 9E-5 kg/kg
(90ppm), it follows that the total amount of CO2 in all oceans is 12.2E16 kg = 121,000 Pg (Mt) and the partial carbon
amount (12/42) = 34,700 Pg (600Pg in surface waters + 7000Pg in mid waters + 30,000Pg in deep ocean =
37,600Pg [1]). Compare this with the amount of carbon in soil and vegetation (1301 + 664 = 1965 Pg, see
soil/ecology) and the carbon in the atmosphere, about 1 kg per square metre over 510E6 km2 = 510E12 kg = 510
Pg (700Pg [1]). It follows that the ocean is a very large reservoir of carbondioxide, also called Dissolved Inorganic
Carbon (DIC). In addition to this, it contains Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) of unknown quantity. The difference
between DIC and DOC is an arbitrary particle size of 0.45m which passes DIC through filtration paper. This
definition does not distinguish our newly discovered slush (incompletely decomposed biomolecules) as DOC. See
our DDA section.

What is dissolved, particulate, inorganic and organic carbon?

Carbon is a miraculous element located in the middle of the Periodic Table, next to nitrogen, which is also a
surprising element. Elements to the left are basic with positive valence (attracting free electrons) and those to the
right are acidic with negative valence (owning loose electrons). Carbon with a valence of 4 can bind with both sides
of the table and with itself. When combined with hydrogen, it forms long chains of organic molecules like
CH3.CH2.CH2......X where the end group X gives it the character of an alkane (CH3), alcohol (OH), acid (COOH),
aldehyde (COH), amino (NH2), and so on. The organic carbon chains can form loops and bonds with other
elements, all being organic compounds. Only few inorganic carbon compounds are known, of which carbondioxide
(CO2) is by far the most common. Natural gas or methane (CH4) is either the last inorganic molecule or the first
organic molecule. So it is safe to say that dissolved inorganic carbon is CO2, particularly since it dissolves so
readily in water.
All biomolecules that make up the structure of an organism are organic (except for salts in body liquids), and when
these are decomposed, the leftover molecules are also organic, except for inorganic nutrients and CO2, for the
whole purpose of decomposition is to turn organic molecules into inorganic nutrients and CO2 for plants. All
biomolecules can be transported by being dissolved in water. When an organism dies and decomposes, most of its
organic molecules end up in solution as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), molecules that are very much smaller
than the smallest of organisms (viruses).
Plankton organisms are classified by size from femtoplankton (smaller than 0.2m), picoplankton (0.2-2m) to
megaplankton (0.2-2m). Note that the wavelength of visible light is 0.4-0.7m, which means that organisms
smaller than 1m are not visible under a light microscope (all viruses and most bacteria). What all this means is
that measuring the biomass of plankton is almost impossible. For practical reasons, scientists decided that
anything passing through fine filtration paper (0.45m) is dissolved and all that is retained is particulate.
Unfortunately this marks a substantial amount of particulate biomass as dissolved.
Phytoplankton consists of organisms from bacteria to diatoms and large dinoflagellates (like sea spark, Noctiluca
scintillans). Their biomass can be estimated by measuring their chlorophyl (green pigment) from light
measurements. However, other pigments (brown, red) are also common and the amount of chlorophyl is only a
small part of biomass. So, even quantifying the amount of phytoplankton is almost impossible.
The bottom line is that the boundaries between dissolved, particulate, inorganic and organic are rather vague. Also
the functional difference between producers (phytoplankton) and decomposers (most bacteria) is seldom
acknowledged.

Deep sea temperature, oxygen & nutrients

In general the ratios between the various
elements in seawater is constant, except
where modified by life. In this diagram one can
see how light penetrates no deeper than 150m
for photosynthesis. Indeed at 800m, the ocean
is pitch dark. In the surface mixed layer above
the thermocline, water mixes sufficiently to
sustain life. Gas exchange with the
atmosphere is near-perfect such that the
oxygen concentration in the water is in
equilibrium with the atmosphere. But it rapidly
decreases below 50-75m as photosynthesis
declines while animals use up most oxygen. At
around 800m oxygen levels reach a minimum
(as also carbondioxide levels reach a
maximum, not shown). Towards the deep and
bottom water, oxygen levels increase slightly
due to an influx of cold bottom water from the
poles. Due to lack of oxygen, deep sea fish
cannot be very active.
The coloured curves for phosphate and nitrate show how these nutrients are almost completely used near the surface
and how they gradually become available in the thermocline layer. Note how the Atlantic Ocean ends up with less
nutrients than the Pacific and Indian oceans.
The temperature curve shows the general idea of staying relatively high and constant in the mixed layer, then
declining rapidly in the thermocline layer until reaching a near constant temperature of +3C in deep and bottom
water. The maximum surface temperature of course depends on many factors, like latitude and season.
Note that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased from 280 ppm in 1850 to 360 ppm in 1998, and
is still rising. It is estimated that about 50% of anthropogenic CO2 has been absorbed by the oceans. Because the
upper atmosphere is bombarded by cosmic rays, some of the nitrogen atoms become radioactive isotopes C-14 with
a half life of 5730 years. Once incorporated into organisms, its radioactivity decays slowly, allowing scientists to
calculate the age of organic substances. Fossil fuels which have been underground for over 60 million years, have
lost nearly all their radioactive carbon isotopes, and in this manner CO2 from burning fossil fuels can be distinguished
from normal CO2 circulation. The diagrams below shows how fossil carbondioxide is absorbed by the oceans.

Radioactive Carbon-14
As cosmic rays bombard the outer atmosphere, they are slowed down by the thin gases there. With their energy of
billions of electron-Volt (eV) they produce fast neutrons that gradually slow down to that of thermal neutrons. At a
height of about 9-15km, these neutrons collide with nitrogen-14 (normal nitrogen), producing radioactive carbon-14
(carbon with one extra neutron). The total amount of C-14 produced each year is about 9.8kg for the whole Earth,
or about 1 atom C-14 for 1 trillion (1E-12) normal C-12 atoms. Nuclear tests have almost doubled the quantity in
the atmosphere in a peak (year 1964) that is gradually becoming normal again as the peak is absorbed by
organisms and the ocean. Radioactive carbon decays back to nitrogen by emitting an electron (beta radiation) at
the initial rate of 14 disintegrations per minute per gram carbon. The C-13 carbon isotope which is not radioactive,
occurs for about one in every 100 atoms C. The age of organic remains can thus be measured by counting beta
radiation from disintegrating atoms, but a much more sensitive method is by counting all C14 atoms by mass
spectrometry.
Because of its slow decay rate of 50% in 5700 years, the total amount of C-14 in the atmosphere, biosphere and
oceans is much higher than 10kg. According to Libby (1955) who invented carbon dating, the distribution of carbon
and carbon-14 is as follows:

carbon reservoir

percentage

CO2 dissolved in oceans

87.5

Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in oceans

7.1

Biosphere, all living organisms

4.0

Atmospheric CO2

1.4

Note that at a pH of 7.0 (neutral water) only 0.1 mol/kg (10 -7 ) of water is dissociated into positive hydrogen ions H +
and negative hydroxyl ions OH - . In the ocean where a pH of around 8 is found, this becomes even less at 0.01
mol/kg, which makes hydrogen ions twenty times scarcer than oxygen and 200 times scarcer than
carbondioxide. It explains how important the pH is to the productivity of aquatic ecosystems. Visit our latest plankton
discoveries in the Dark Decay Assay section where this limiting factor was quantified in freshwater lakes.

This world map of ocean acidity shows that ocean pH varies from about 7.90 to 8.20 but along the coast one may
find much larger variations from 7.3 inside deep estuaries to 8.6 in productive coastal plankton blooms and 9.5 in
tide pools. The map shows that pH is lowest in the most productive regions where upwellings occur. It is thought
that the average acidity of the oceans decreased from 8.25 to 8.14 since the advent of fossil fuel (Jacobson M Z,
2005).

Carbondioxide as bicarbonate
Carbondioxide binds loosely with water to form bicarbonate:

CO2 + H2O <=> H2CO3 <=> H + + HCO3 - <=> H + + H+ + CO32-

in the ratios CO2 & carbonic acid H2CO3 = 1%, bicarbonate HCO3 - = 93%, carbonate CO3 2- =6%. These variants
of CO2 (species) add up to the total amount of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC), which also includes a smaller
amount of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) that passes filtration techniques.
The <=> symbol means 'in equilibrium with'.
These forms of carbon are always in close equilibrium with the atmosphere and with one another. When one talks
about dissolved carbondioxide, it is the slightly acidic bicarbonate. When the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere
increases, presumably also the concentration in the ocean's surface increases, and this works itself through to the
right in above equation.
Photosynthesis of organic matter is often simplified as: CO2 + H2O + sunlight => CH2O +O2, which happens only in
the sunlit depths to 150m and down to where the sea mixes.

The average composition of marine plants is: H:O:C:N:P:S = 212:106:106:16:2:1 which comes close to CH2O.
Respiration is often simplified as : CH2O => CO2 + H2O + energy, which can happen at all depths, depending on the
amount of food sinking down from above.
Therefore the concentrations of oxygen and carbondioxide vary with depth. The surface layers are rich in oxygen
which reduces quickly with depth, to reach a minimum between 200-800m depth. The deep ocean is richer in oxygen
because of cool and dense surface water descending from the poles into the deep ocean.
It is thought that the carbondioxide in the sea exists in equilibrium with that of exposed rock containing limestone
CaCO3. In other words, that the element calcium exists in equilibrium with CO3. But the concentration of Ca
(411ppm) is 10.4 mmol/l and that of all CO2 species (90ppm) 2.05 mmol/l, of which CO3 is about 6%, thus 0.12
mmol/l. Thus the sea has a vast oversupply of calcium.

[1] Report of the Royal Society (June 2005): Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide .
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/displaypagedoc.asp?id=13539 (1MB)
.